Item: Garden Spells
Rating: 5.00
Author: murderbydeath

by Sarah Addison Allen

Bascom, North Carolina is a town where everyone is known for their family's characteristics, passed down through generations. One family's women are good in bed: they always marry well. One family gives birth to a strong man - always called Josiah - once in a generation (you go to him to help you when you move house). The Waverleys are known for their magic touch: Evanelle, who's lived in Bascom all her life, gives people what they need before they know they need it; Claire, who came to town when she was six and never wants to leave, can turn the plants in her garden into delicious food and drink with spectacular effects on those who consume it; Sydney, who ran away from her home town at 18, hasn't worked out what hers is. When Sydney returns to Bascom with her little girl, in flight from an abusive marriage, she proves a catalyst for change in the lives of all three women.

I put off reading this book for a long time because I figured it had to be one of those emotionally manipulative tear jerkers, but the lure of a book with magic and the recommendation of a trusted book-twin had me cracking it open. Just a lovely, brilliant book that grabbed me from the first page. Each character came to life vividly and I just didn't want to stop reading about any of them. I genuinely enjoyed that the author did *not* take us down the clichéd path with Sydney or with Fred - in a book all about magic (or mostly about magic), the author chose to take the more realistic path. The book's climax is predictable, given the plot points, but thank you Ms. Addison Allen for not drawing it out and making it any more melodramatic than it needed to be. It was just right - and deliciously ironic.

My only complaint: I truly feel that poor old apple tree is just horribly mis-understood.

I'll be re-reading this book often.

Garden Spells

by Sarah Addison Allen

Reviewed by MurderByDeath on May 17, 2013

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